Learning German by overwhelming force

Posted by Jul on 23 June 2008
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Even though I claim to speak two foreign languages, I’m not really a language person. I’m just not a natural at it, although I really wish I was. My typical American education didn’t exactly help, either, involving practically no foreign language training until high school, and even then it was barely given any attention. What application could non-English languages possibly have in the real world, after all? Surely being able to recite all 50 state capitals will have more of an impact on our ability to be productive members of society.

But, even non-naturals like me can learn to communicate well in a foreign language. Many years ago I passed the DSH-Prüfung, one of the highest level exams available for German as a foreign language, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement in my speaking and writing abilities. Plenty. And given that I live in Germany now, what better time to work on my German?

A while ago I read a Steve Pavlina article about using overwhelming force to accomplish a goal. It’s an interesting exercise, to think through all the things you could do to achieve a goal, even if you don’t actually end up implementing all of them. A few weeks ago I made a big long list of things I could do to improve my German with overwhelming force. Here were some of my ideas:

Formal training: find an appropriate-level German class and sign up!

Listening comprehension: watch only German television; listen only to music with German lyrics (current favorites include Xavier Naidoo and Wir Sind Helden); go see German movies; eavesdrop on German conversations on the train; subscribe to a bunch of German podcasts

Reading comprehension: read news only in German; switch to German-language leisure reading material (such as magazines and novels)

Speaking: speak only German as much of the day as possible. Speak only German with husband and friends; Speak German to myself when I’m alone; go out of my way to make phone calls in German; strike up conversations in German with strangers

Writing: send emails in German whenever possible; enter into more written correspondence in German; write blog in German only; keep a journal in German

Other: Do grammar exercises; memorize new vocabulary; work German crossword puzzles

Basically, replace all English thinking, reading, writing, speaking, and listening with German thinking, reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Easy enough, right?

The part I would find the hardest is the socializing part. I feel just as guilty going out of my way to make friends with German-speakers as I do cutting off those who don’t speak German. So, yeah, I’m probably not going to do that part. Noch nicht…

(And don’t worry, I don’t plan to start blogging auf Deutsch anytime soon, either…)

How do you improve your foreign language skills?

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Comments (29)

  • Bluefish
    June 23rd, 2008 08:29

    Good luck with your Deutsch. I didn’t’ want to take it as a major in college, because people told me it’s hard.

  • Sara
    June 23rd, 2008 09:26

    overwhelming force is a good description :)

    for me the only way i really learned French was by being in an environment where I was forced to speak it (in the lab, we got a slight grace period for learning but then it was French only, including presentations). It sometimes sucked but when you have no choice you just do it.

    I see the flip side, my lame progress in learning German, where I’m not really forced, and I make basically zero progress. However the motivation isnt that great either (current main use would be to be able to communicate better with mother and father in law, is that really a good thing??)

  • Mark Reynolds
    June 23rd, 2008 10:55

    I try to read French newspapers where I can, and I also listen to a French news podcast, plus conversation when I can. Problem is, people often want to practice their English on me, which makes for awkward conversations where everyone’s floundering in their second language conversations.
    Can’t say any of this has improved my language skills, but it has reduced my fear of looking like a moron to native speakers (or rather, I’ve just come to terms with the fact that I do look like a moron, and there’s nothing I can do about it).

  • cliff1976
    June 23rd, 2008 11:00

    Speak only German with husband and friends;

    That is perhaps the most difficult part. If you figure out how to make that work, reliably, teilt uns bitte mit.

    Übrigens: war schön Euch mal auch IRL kennenzulernen.

  • AstroYoga
    June 23rd, 2008 11:23

    I am finding time is my biggest help. I was surprised that my German seemed to improve (in some ways) this past year even though I had lived in the U.S. for the greater part of last year. While there, I rarely had the chance to speak German, and I wasn’t good enough to get some podcasts (I did read Harry Potter in German part of the time). I can’t understand how I improved, but my brain seems to have a delay time with absorption of the language.

    Good luck with converting to German speaking with the husband. Mine is German, and I still haven’t managed to switch. Mostly, he has a problem switching. I will speak German and he responds in English which makes my brain hurt so in it’s own defense, it switches back to English. The only exception is when we visit his parents and mostly speak German to each other, though he still switches to English when he is talking only to me.

  • Monica
    June 23rd, 2008 13:44

    - Speak almost exclusively French with my hubby
    - French entertainment (movies, free magazines on the metro, news websites)
    - Some schooling in French (but not French courses)
    - Hanging out on Swiss mommy forums (forces me not only to write in French, but to learn weird French acronyms and slang for all things reproductive)
    - Finally making some Swiss friends

  • PapaScott
    June 23rd, 2008 15:01

    Maybe it’s harder these days with the Internet to force yourself to learn the language of your adopted country. I came to Germany in 1990… I had no expat acquaintances, no satellite TV, a German-only work environment, and a wife with whom I had made a pact to only speak German at home.

    These days with the Internet you can keep yourself informed and entertained in Germany without learning a word a German. Back then I would have been bored out of my skull.

    I also wanted to be independent, do be able to do things like shop, go to the doctor, or deal with bureaucracy without having to depend on a translator. Independence was probably the biggest motivation of all.

  • Jul
    June 23rd, 2008 16:22

    Yes, motivation is a big help! That’s why it was hard to work on my German while living in Zurich – it wouldn’t have helped me understand the world around me any better there, nor would it have helped me fit in.

    And fear of looking like a moron is a big hindrance for me, too. It’s pretty much impossible to become fluent in a language without sounding like an idiot many, many times along the way. You just have to suck it up and look silly…

  • Dave Hampton
    June 23rd, 2008 20:22

    I am not a “language person”: my mind doesn’t easily wrap around a new tongue. So I keep trying to tackle it like a coding – substitution problem: learning new words to substitute for old, and new grammar to organize it.

    The problem is that when I go to say something, I go through a chain of translation, conjugation, re-arrangement, pronunciation that, more than not, results in total mind-lock.

    I’ve found it easier to write short paragraphs and e-mails with my assistant at work, and to work in short phrases. I also have one friend who I can use to practice the Dutch Word of the Day mailings, or to try to tell what I did for the weekend.

    Periodically, I take a week’s immersion course which seems to be a boost. I read a lot and drill vocabulary lists and Rosetta.

    Brute force, I know…

  • steph
    June 24th, 2008 07:33

    Like you I think that having lived in America for all of my education we are at a disadvantage to learn new languages because the first glimpse of language learning I had was in high school myself. Many other countries start their youth off at a young age to learn and become fluent in another language. Again, like you I’m not a NATURAL at it either…I guess my brain just isn’t wired that way. I’m attempting to re-learn Spanish now that I’m in my 30’s and it is coming along but very slowly :)

    I have been using http://www.edufire.com and so far it has been great. though I probably be more disciplined…I think I’m learning alot so far.

    good luck to you!

  • Meika
    June 25th, 2008 17:05

    My efforts to learn Japanese were pretty half-hearted, and the only reason that I learned as much as I did (which still wasn’t much) was because I lived in a city (Nagoya) where very, very few people spoke any English at all. It was very strange when we went up to Tokyo and everyone spoke English to us – we HAD to learn enough to at least order a meal and order train tickets in Nagoya.

    Is there anywhere in your area where people really don’t speak English? Maybe you could start volunteering in a retirement home. (Do they have retirement homes in Germany? I really know nothing at all about your host country. :)

  • mexpat
    June 27th, 2008 15:32

    I would love to have the opportunity to speak only Spanish with hubby, unfortunately, I think a hasty divorce might follow if I even attempted! He can only speak a couple sentences.

    I studied Spanish for many years before moving to Mexico, the last real class I took at Rutgers University a couple years ago (I was that weird old lady in the class, LOL).

    Here I have a tutor and speak to Spanish speaking people in Spanish wherever possible. I watch movies and rent television series only in Spanish (although I still watch a few English shows, too). I made a pact with myself that I’m not allowed to read any books that are not in Spanish. I’m still not progressing as fast as I would like, but it is still faster than I was when I was living in the US.

    The idea about one week in an immersion program has been nibbling on my brain, too. It was interesting to see that Dave Hampton does that, too.

  • Rob
    June 28th, 2008 12:23

    I posted my comment here: http://hall-net.eu/Blog/files/65443f576c60911c8d06362e5ac82d43-145.html it just got too long!

  • Jul
    July 2nd, 2008 16:50

    Meika – there are definitely retirement homes here, although I’m not so sure how they feel about volunteers (in Switzerland I found that in contrast to the US, very few institutions accept volunteers).

    Luckily I can speak a lot of German in my daily life here. Even when people speak English, they rarely switch to it on me when the discussion is started in German. I really like that!

  • Jul
    July 6th, 2008 21:25

    Steph – Edufire looks really interesting. I might have to give it a try!

  • Johann
    August 6th, 2008 22:47

    klingt gut.

    jetzt denke ich darüber nach das mit spanisch zu machen. die schule hat zwar versucht mir das beizubringen, leider war ich viel zu faul.

    viel spaß und glück, es könnte klappen.

  • Jul
    August 6th, 2008 23:23

    Danke, Johann. Viel Glück beim Spanisch-Lernen!

  • Anonymous
    August 8th, 2008 02:36

    I pretty much did the same things as outlined in your blog. While in Germany for seven years, I made it a point to immerse myself in the local culture. I also went to a local school that taught German at night. My German girlfriends helped too!

  • Jul
    August 8th, 2008 17:55

    Yes, German friends are a great help. :)

  • BurningTongues
    August 10th, 2008 07:26

    I learned German much as you did, by completely immersing myself in the language. I did a great deal of this while still at home in the states with help of the internet. I actually know more about German music now than most Germans! One mistake that I made, however, was to read a lot of “Märchen”. These were the easiest things for me to understand however as I knew most of the stories already and they were very easy to find online. The only problem was, I picked up a LOT of antiquated words and expressions along the way that caused me quite a bit of grief when I finally moved to Germany.
    Picture this: American boy walks into an Aldi, can’t find something, and asks an employee the following in relatively accent-free German: “Entschuldigen Sie, gnädige Frau, könnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wo hier im Haus Salz zu finden ist?”
    Yeah… that didn’t go over too well. It also took me a further 3 months to realize that my wishing everyone a nice day made me look insane to most people.
    The biggest requirement for learning a language is just commitment, and to never being comfortable with “just getting by”. Just my two cents. Great blog!

  • Jul
    August 12th, 2008 23:53

    BurningTongues – That story is hysterical! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to have to start calling women “gnädige Frau” more often. :)

  • Philipe
    August 30th, 2008 17:35

    I did find another one, apart from the ones in the comments: http://www.studentteacherexchange.com/ which is completely free and uses chat/video/voice and whiteboards as well. They are new but my guess is they will be booming soon since they charge nothing.

    Wie kann mann eigentlich ein Umlaut auf ein internationaler Keyboard einfuehren?

  • cliff1976
    August 31st, 2008 00:03

    Wie kann mann eigentlich ein Umlaut auf ein internationaler Keyboard einfuehren?

    Unter Windows, auf einer Tastatur mit dem Ziffernblock auf der rechten Seite, drückt man die Alt-Taste fest, und gibt folgende Tastendrücke auf dem Ziffernblock ein:

    0223 (für ß)
    0228 (für ä)
    0246 (für ö)
    0252 (für ü)

  • Jul
    September 8th, 2008 21:11

    Ugh, I hate those Windows "shortcuts". I usually end up doing Insert -> Symbol instead. Or plugging in my German keyboard.

  • Jake
    December 4th, 2008 12:56

    Great tips in the comments here. I’ve found German to be one of the hardest to learn.

  • Nevis1
    December 28th, 2008 17:24

    No this is not an advertisement for Rosetta Stone….but I did find their software very useful. It also helps that my GF is from Dusseldorf.

  • RUI
    March 6th, 2009 19:15

    Wie kann mann eigentlich ein Umlaut auf ein internationaler Keyboard einfuehren?

    I USE THE ‘CHARACTER MAP’ FOR UMLAUTS AND THE ETZETT (HOPE I SPELLED THAT RIGHT). IT CAN BE FOUND ON WINDOWS BY TYPING ‘CHARACTER MAP’ IN ‘HELP AN SUPPORT.

  • Anonymous
    March 12th, 2009 21:07

    Ich als Deutscher verbessere genau auf diese Art mein Englisch. Even though I don’t read, watch and listen to english exclusively.

  • vicki
    December 11th, 2009 22:45

    I've been doing all the things you've listed for three years and I still speak schlectes Deutsch!

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